Spring II

It has been ridiculously warm this past week, with temps in the 70s. I responded by biking to work on thursday and wearing shorts at the office. Nature responded more dramatically. The frogs across the street were calling wednesday evening and every evening since. Mendota and Monona are free of ice. Crocuses appeared sunday morning and lost most of their petals by this morning. The chives were growing so fast I could see it through the kitchen window while washing dishes. Song sparrows have appeared across the street and killdeer are all over the landscaping at work. This morning the neighbors forsythia bloomed. We seeded one of the beds with spinach and lettuce seeds last weekend and if this weather keeps up they could be sprouting right now….ok, two so far. But that’s really fast.

Thursday’s riding thought….”Greatness occurs in garages at night.” A reference to the Palo Alto garage that served as a workshop for Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Also known as the birthplace of silicon valley.

We’re not all going to found industry-altering companies, but we can all turn off the tv, go work on our own projects, on our own quiet benches. Building something, creating something, solving something, writing something, painting something. Reversing one trend, of Americans as consumers to Americans as creators. And another trend of work as pointlessly collaborative dissonance to work as resolute, intense, silent engagement.